He Tried
by Jin Hikari
Summary: A drabble for all those Kakashi-bashers out there explaining a different point of view on the situation. Team 7 fic.


_**If it wasn't obvious, I disagree with people who thought Kakashi treated Sasuke better/Ignored Naruto and Sakura/Didn't Try (Hehe, title is self explanatory of this)**_

_**SO! I crafted this oneshot for all of you. It's not really FiT material, seeing as Sasuke is male in this one. It's more of a drabble. Enjoy!**_

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Hatake Kakashi will never admit to favoring Sasuke Uchiha over the rest of his pupils, because in his eyes nothing could be further from the truth. He valued all of them equally, giving them each the amount of attention he thought they would need to grow. He may have taught Sasuke more about fighting, but fighting was only one aspect of being a Shinobi. There were so many other facets that needed to be addressed, and harder lessons to be learned than how to draw a kunai across an opponent's throat.

He'd tried to give Sasuke the power to protect. The Chidori was meant to be a shield to fight for your friends and your beliefs. A shining, loud beacon that would instantly draw strong opponents like moths to a flame and distract the dangerous adversaries from your comrades and bring them to the guardian to deal with. Sasuke was supposed to be the next Itachi, willing to give his life for his village and his friends. But Itachi had planted a seed in Sasuke's heard, and what a bitter seed it was. Kakashi had tried his hardest to keep the desire for revenge from consuming him, but the bitter seed had been watered by the tears of despair and had rooted itself too deep. Now the avenger was in Madara's grasp, and as far as he was concerned had gone beyond helping.

Sakura- young, innocent Sakura- had agreed with him. She was supposed to be the pillar of strength for the two men. When Naruto's troubles got to him or Sasuke's anger flared, she would be there in the center of all their lives to put them back in line with her memories of all the troubles that they had suffered through. Her innocence would have been rubbed raw into the maturity of a Kunoichi, and she would have looked at the big picture and seen the correct course of action. But she had a bit too much of Tsunade in her for his tastes. She was spiteful, and jumped easily to conclusions. Her scale of reason had shattered into a million pieces the day that she'd seen Sasuke walk away from her and towards Orochimaru. And the day that piece of her had died, there was no way she could be the scale she had to be.

Naruto Uzumaki. The very name sent the man into what seemed like a coma of nostalgia. He'd been such a child when the Cyclops had first met him. The ball of potential he was, he could have been Hokage had he attempted it under better circumstances. But instead the unpredictable, malleable ball of energy had to deal with the consequences of his Sensei's failed attempts at teaching his team. He had been forced to take on the roll of protection meant for Sasuke, as well as the sense of moral direction meant for Sakura, and the little bastard had lost everything he once dreamed of in the process. No longer did he aspire for acknowledgement, because his team…his family…had given that to him.

His teacher's son was his greatest failure. He'd shouldered too much, and because of that Kakashi dealt with the sight of the teen as he was slowly crushed under the weight of his entire team's responsibilities. Sakura had told him to relax, but what she didn't see was that he couldn't afford to let go of Sasuke's duty, nor the pink haired girl's either. He was trying to be the glue to the pieces of his loved ones broken lives, but the shattered fragments cut him more and more no matter how many times he tried to pick them up.

Kakashi took another swig of sake from his small bowl as he sat next to the hero's monument. "How the times flow by…" he mumbled under his breath. How long ago had it been when his students were greenhorns and he was fighting circles around them while reading his little orange book as they tried desperately to grab bells? Too long, by Kakashi's clock. He'd never bothered to take on another team. Not with a war brewing and his first attempt at it in such miserable tatters. He was surprised that Lady Tsunade had asked him to try one. She'd argued that Sakura and Naruto were grown up enough. Kakashi had retorted by pointing out that if he didn't have enough time to fully educate a grouping of Ninja in a time of peace, what chances would he stand in a time of war? When everyone was forced to grow up fast, far too fast.

"_They're stable, healthy, and strong Kakashi. What more could you ask for?"_

Although the man hadn't had an answer for her at the time (or out of respect), the mixture of Alcohol and time to think. "How about a full three man cell, to start out with?" Kakashi said to the monument. Sai…Sai didn't count. He tried, and he had been accepted all around, but he was and always would be the fourth member of the team. He laughed to Asuma, glancing at the man's name. "You may have had Ino-Shika-Chou, but I had Naru-Sasu-Saku. I'll consider that my victory, old friend. Though I envy you for the time you had with your team."

He also wanted more time to bring them up. He was the pseudo-father of two orphans and a girl who had lost her father before she was born. He was a strong male influence, but juggling that responsibility with the one of being a Sensei had been too much. "I don't know how you did it, Yondaime-sama…Minato-sensei, sorry, I know you hate being called that," the man chuckled as he gazed up to the Hokage monument, staring at the carving of his sensei's face.

"I mean…Obito's father was so detached, and my own dad…well, you've probably chatted it up with him by now. I was never quite sure about Rin's case. You were probably in a similar situation, though. One you handled way better than I did, I'll admit."

He'd tried. He'd tried as hard as he could. Not to teach them how to fight, or how to work as a unit, but how to be a family. All the teamwork exercises, all the banter, all the being late to force them to socialize as well as give him time to remember his fallen comrades, all of that had failed. He supposed he should have known better than to teach the hard lessons first. Ones like watching your comrades' backs when they needed you, or valuing life in both friend and foe. Those were lessons best learned through experience, but with all the hate inside Sasuke and haunting Naruto he'd thought they would be easier to teach.

He'll admit that he failed, but he will never admit that he favored a student. He knew better than that. All shinobi did. He had no issues in admitting he'd been a bad sensei, but if you said it was because he spent too much time with the Uchiha then he had a few things to say to you.

As did the girl who cut her hair in the Forest of Death, hair that she'd grown to fulfill her lifelong goal, to save the lives of the boy she found annoying and the boy who didn't acknowledge her existence.

The one with the kunai held in both hands to try her hardest to protect her team mates, despite facing down the demon of her nightmares.

The one who had leapt in between two lethal attacks to stop the violent outburst of the two males on her squad.

As did the boy who had leapt in front of a barrage of senbon to save the life of a boy he hated.

The one who had pushed his body to the very limit, to the point where he could no longer move, to save his friends.

The one who had knocked out the girl to keep her from having to see him go.

As did the boy who had returned the gesture by stopping a ninety-foot long snake with his body to save the life of the friend that had hated him.

The one who had fought a demon with one of his own, and used it to unlock a new power that would stand on guard for his comrades as long as he lived.

The one who chased the runaway boy across the country in the fruitless effort to keep his family whole.

Kakashi didn't care what you said to him about his failures. But when you accused him of not trying or caring for every last member of his team in the same way, that's where you would be sadly mistaken. Kakashi had done everything he thought possible to instill in his almost-children the values of any proud ninja, and he'd succeeded for the most part. His teachings, brought down from Hashirama and Tobirama Senjuu to Sarutobi Hiruzen to Jiraiya to Namikaze Minato to him. He taught with the Will of Fire.

Sasuke's fire burned everything that wronged him or got in his way. It was fierce and uncontrolled, and if left unchecked he would eventually burn himself.

Sakura's fire burned passionately, warming the souls of her friends as well as bringing them courage and a reason to fight.

Naruto's fire burned bright like a beacon, inspiring others and lighting their paths in life to them in ways not seen before.

No matter what you said, you couldn't accuse Kakashi of not caring. He'd tried.

He'd tried.

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_**Did you like it? REVIEW THEN! Please? You get the next chapter of Things sooner if you do...it's HALFWAY DONE! My writing speed is directly related to the review count...**_

_**~Hikaru**_


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